Declan Rice delivered an 82nd-minute equalizer to secure a 2-2 draw for Arsenal against Bayern Munich in a thrilling Champions League clash Wednesday night at the Allianz Arena.
Harry Kane produced a goal and an assist to lead a Bayern fightback after an early Arsenal strike, but Rice’s late blast ensured the visitors left Germany with a share of the points.
Early injury and breakthrough
Arsenal suffered an immediate setback when winger Bukayo Saka pulled up with an apparent muscle injury in his thigh inside the opening ten minutes and signaled to the bench. Substitute Eberechi Eze entered the match and made a swift impact, opening the scoring in the 25th minute after latching onto a through ball from captain Martin Ødegaard and sliding a finish past goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. The goal initially drew an offside flag from the assistant referee before a video assistant referee review confirmed the strike.
Bayern answered ten minutes later when Kane dropped into the midfield and delivered a pinpoint through ball to Alphonso Davies, who broke behind the Arsenal backline and calmly slotted the ball past David Raya to level the match at 1-1.
Kane extends European streak
Both goalkeepers traded acrobatic stops early in the second half. Neuer denied an Arsenal set-piece scramble and tipped a header onto the woodwork, while Raya pulled off a sharp reflex save to deny a Dayot Upamecano header.
Bayern took the lead around the hour mark when Kane’s attempt struck the arm of sliding Arsenal defender Jurriën Timber inside the penalty area. Kane stepped up to convert the 61st-minute penalty kick, sending Raya the wrong way. The strike marked Kane’s 16th career goal in 23 appearances against Arsenal and extended his scoring streak to 10 consecutive Champions League matches, leaving him one short of Cristiano Ronaldo’s tournament record of 11 games, Al Jazeera English reported.
The German champions entered the contest missing several key figures, including Joshua Kimmich, Jamal Musiala and Michael Olise, while manager Vincent Kompany coached from the sideline despite battling an illness in the buildup to the match.
Late drama in Munich
Arsenal continued to push forward in the final stages, finding an equalizer when second-half substitute Viktor Gyökeres laid a pass across the box for Rice. The English midfielder took a touch and drove a fierce shot into the net to make it 2-2. Neuer preserved the draw in the dying moments by tipping an effort from Timber over the crossbar.
“Probably when you look at the whole 90 minutes, a draw was probably a fair result,” Kane said to TNT Sports after the final whistle, adding that he was still a little disappointed with the outcome.
The draw marks just the second time Arsenal have dropped points across 12 games in all competitions this season, keeping Mikel Arteta’s squad in seventh place in the Champions League standings with seven points. Bayern sit in 14th place, outside the top eight automatic qualification places.
